Learning from the past experience: Implementing democracy in Nepali society.
By Nepali Bai
(UWB received this article in email)
The difference between pre- and post- 1990 is not the level of corruption, gentlemen, and corruption has actually gone down. Get used to it! Democracies all over the world have the same low opinion of their politicians that you have of yours. The difference is a free press, non-governmental watchdog organizations, investigative reporting, and an effective judicial system that puts corrupt politicians in jail and confiscates their property. I can’t wait till the mandate of the new government’s anticorruption commission is extended to cover the royal family, the palace secretariat, the army, and the police!
Ever since the Maobadis (Maoists) were prevented from participating in the 1995 elections and retreated into the far western hills of Nepal to begin an armed revolution to overthrow the monarchy, they have attacked multiparty democracy in favor of a one party communist state. How effect their propaganda has been will only be known when elections are held to a constituent assembly and we see the position delegates take on restructuring democracy in Nepal. Then we will know if they are committed to multi-party democracy or push for a one-party authoritarian state. The other parties have no one to blame for this but themselves.
The Congress Party, in particular, put the breaks on real social and political reform out of a fear of pushing too hard against the interests of the Palace and suffering a repeat of 1961 when King Mahindra arrested the government of B. P. Koraila and ushered in 30 years of repressive party less Panchayat Democracy. Koirala even resigned as Prime Minister rather than force a showdown with the Palace over control of the army. This time he will be forced to resign if he doesn’t! The party’s failure to enact their own promises to the people has made it all too easy for others to attack the very concept of Democracy.
During the past four years of Gyanendra’s attempt to return the country back to the old Panchayat Raj, the government controlled TV, radio, and print media, and the king’s hand picked ministers launched a non-stop attack on democracy in the name of “democracy” as it is always defined by dictators–meaningless elections to powerless posts under the control of the dictator, in this case the king of Nepal. The main charge has been corruption!
Corruption
To listen to the king and the official media over the past four years, you would conclude that corruption was invented by the political parties in 1990. After all, all government revenues were the personal property of the Shah kings from 1769 to 1845 and the government treasury was the private bank of the Ranas from 1845 until 1951 to spend on building private palaces and living a life style unimaginable to anyone else in Nepal. Any careful examination of the news media and the court records of the Panchayat era would lead one to believe that Nepal had one of the most corruption free governments in the world. During this same time, democracies around the world were arresting, trying in court, convicting and sending to jail, and confiscation the personal property of government officials by the thousands from the local postman to presidents and prime ministers. Generals and defense contractors, judges and police officers, lawyers and doctors, you name the position of power and authority, and if there was a story of corruption, the news media ran with it, corruption was investigated and the guilty went to jail.
A corruption reduction program is going to require at least the following:
1. A Freedom of Information Act. Full financial disclosure for any candidate for any office of public trust. Public hearings on all expenditures. A degree of transparency in all financial transactions that requires the publication of all government accounts with the right of citizens to challenge the accuracy of reported government expenditures in court.
2. Reduction in the Size of Government. Reduce the size of the government bureaucracy in half and use the money to double the salary of the remaining bureaucrats and then demand that they perform or get out. Where you now need ten signatures from officers in ten differences departments to open a tea shop, we need just one and a number clearly posted on the office wall for whom to call if there is even a hint of corruption. The other nine need to be retrained to do something useful and be sent out to the villages to do something good for once in their lives.
3. Qualifications and performance reviews. This requires clear job descriptions, verifiable proof of qualifications, and an equally clear line of authority and accountability for all decision making. We have to reverse the government hiring policy of the past 500 years and make it “it’s what you know, not who you know, stupid!”
4. Independent Judiciary. Qualified and astute judges who are above corruption are critical to enforcing anti-corruption laws. The election of district level judges who can be closely observed in court by the local community can quickly eliminate a great deal of bias and corruption. A mechanism for parliament to impeach zonal and Supreme Court judges will also be a deterrent to corruption.
The difference between pre- and post- 1990 is not the level of corruption, gentlemen, and corruption has actually gone down. Get used to it! Democracies all over the world have the same low opinion of their politicians that you have of yours. The difference is a free press, non-governmental watchdog organizations, investigative reporting, and an effective judicial system that puts corrupt politicians in jail and confiscates their property. I can’t wait till the mandate of the new government’s anticorruption commission is extended to cover the royal family, the palace secretariat, the army, and the police! Newspaper sales are going to soar and people are going to be glued to their televisions. I anticipate a huge jump in home deliveries of food as it will be impossible to detach the cooks from the TV!
United We Blog 
Comments
64 responses to “Trashing Democracy: Nepal Case Study”
Kiratji,
At least that’s a start. When I spoke of action, I meant action oriented.
We are at a juncture where if we are not careful, Nepal as we know it will not be there. Believe me, as nation continues to become weak from within, others have had a field day to create fissures,mistrust amongst us, and divide by political colors- there is an ample evidence that what occurred was instigated by foreign powers.
I ask you why there is a rush to visit India by leaders of all colors? Will you ask your neighbor to settle your domestic dispute? I am very much surprised by leaders, they consult, seek approvals, and Blessing from South Block rather than from Nepali- why this slave mentality? I wonder.
Who is there to say that Maoist are not doctored by India. Can self respecting Nepali sit idle and see a proud Nepal being servant to India. A big No.
Kirat, prove me wrong, buddy. I hear there was huge Demonstrattion in western part of Nepal yesterday, this was not reported. Regan styled selective memory & feigning loss of memory will not fly much longer.
Overkill,
I think you are into something real with this SPA buffons ready to relinquish our security and sovereignty into India Bhai’s “able” hands.
Kirat and alike feel that whenever someone has a genuine concern about India’s Nepal Plan it has to be “royalists’ scare tactic”.
I, for one, seriously feel that India outwitted, outplayed SPA, Maoists and the King.
Now, it’s time to cash in the chips…..and Girija and Co. have to cough up the dough, so to speak, or Bharat Uncle may pull the rug beneath them and put Prachandra at the helm.
Kya Baat He!
I don’t know but you guys seem like simpletons. Ofcourse India has an undue influence in Nepali politics. Substitute India with any other country and it would be the same. So blaming India my friends is not going to help. They will do it as long as they can. It is we who have to change. Having pride for your country does not mean bashing India.
The King,the SPA and the Maoists all run to India and we should rightly despise them for it. But then when you guys talk about India planning to turn Nepal into another Bhutan you are just deflecting the problem. The problem is with our attitude and our mentality. Where do you think the SPA leaders, the Royalists and the Maoists come from? They come from us! When we all change then they will change too. So don’t blame India rather change yourself so India no longer becomes this bogeyman who is going to eat you up.
India is always going to try to meddle-we just got to accept that and play the game better than them.
ROSAN(Real name Rosy?Rosana,Rose?) are you Christian?? Pls give your address and phone..
You say
“Long live Secular, Democratic and Open Republic of Nepal.!!!!
FCK World Hindu Federation!!!
FCK Shiva Sena!!!!
FCK Communist Dictatorship!!! ”
You should also say FCK SONIA(Catholic/Italian/Indian)..she deserves it and would love it because she is a widow….
Nepali Bai,
You say “During this same time, democracies around the world were arresting, trying in court, convicting and sending to jail, and confiscation the personal property of government officials by the thousands from the local postman to presidents and prime ministers”..You are showing us a dream never come true in any of the known democracies…LOOK AT INDIA..No politician has any fear of confiscation etc..
Kirat,
Lets understand this- India is doing “regime change in Nepal” I guess that is ok with you. They have more say than Nepali, thats ok with you? And, by the way you must be liberitarian, a pacifist,and an ostrich with head in the sand when you write this “But then when you guys talk about India planning to turn Nepal into another Bhutan you are just deflecting the problem.”
Overkill what’s not okay with me is the fact that it is us Nepali’s who have let India get away with it. What I hate is this hypocrisy of blaming India for our ills. Until we stop blaming others and accept our faults and actively seek to correct them-nothing will change. If we were strong and worked for the better of Nepal and Nepalis do you think India would have so much power over this land?
Accept the truth-we are at fault, we need to change if we are to become stronger as a country and as a people. Blaming India is going to get you nowhere. They are also going to meddle-we have to be strong and smart enough to deal with it.
Kirat,how do you propose to make Nepal strong strong? explain this to me. DO you have magic wand or something? Are you holed up in glass house? Pillars of society is getting body blows, and people like you are talking of reorganizing RNA at this critical juncture, there is division in politics, Maoist are at the gates, and their no cohesive agenda or a platform that talks about nation’s welfare. I blame India but do not fault them, check my comment. I blame India just for the fact which is obvious to everyone that they have become intrusive in our internal affairs, which is not right. Equally, our leaders are at fault to bow down, cow down and kneel down to Indian establishment to MAKE a change in Nepal. You talk about making Nepal stronger, at this rate there will no Nepal make it strong. Just like you talk about reforming RNA as if by magic, I guess making Nepal strong falls in the same category. And you call me SIMPLETON, I say grow up or at least read up
Overkill, If I wrote down all my thoughts on how to make Nepal strong it would take me weeks if not months. But let me state that Nepal and Nepalis are not a basket case-if we have the collective will we can emerge as a stronger nation. It has been done by so many other countries, which means we can do it too.
But the most important thing in solving a problem is recognizing/accepting that there is a problem. Until this first step is taken the problem will never be solved.
If you think I have a magic wand, you indeed are a simpleton.
The history of what we call democratic institutions has basically been a process of turning real, direct democracy — an engagement of the entire community that needed no name — into a formal democracy with a vaunted name but little content: election of chosen rulers presented as “representatives”. Even the NGOs, inquiry committees, courts and so forth suggested above will be little more than paper tigers if they don’t extend out of an aware and organized populace to give them their minds, claws and teeth. Note that in Nepal the greatest engagement and resolve of the population occurred under the worst repression. What has passed for democracy has actually been a concerted effort of demobilization and disengagement of the population. So friends: enough talk, enough browsing the internet, get engaged and get out and begin the hard work and commitment!
utopia is romantic, hard work.
utopia is romantic, hard work.
Your article is very interesting, i bookmarked your blog for future referrence 🙂